In his introduction to the local media, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said he had no intention of raiding his former employer, the Detroit Red Wings. He also said if there was someone whom he felt fit in with Tampa Bay, he would ask the team's permission to speak to that person.

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The Windsor Star reported Tuesday that Red Wings GM Ken Holland said Yzerman has asked to speak to Ryan Martin, who is the team's director of hockey administration and who handles the ins and outs of the salary cap. Martin is known to be close to Yzerman.

In an interview last week, former Lightning general manager Jay Feaster, who said he was not interested in the assistant's job because it would be "awkward" given his history with the team, floated the name Damian Echevarrieta, from the NHL's hockey operations department, as a possible Yzerman assistant because of his knowledge of the collective bargaining agreement.

Another who might have been interested was former Lightning assistant GM Claude Loiselle. But Loiselle on Tuesday was hired by the Maple Leafs for the same job. Loiselle was part of one of the stranger chapters of Tampa Bay's last ownership and management regime as his contract was not renewed in October 2009 to make room for Imran Khan, a former intern of then-GM Brian Lawton's at the Octagon Sports Management Agency.

While Khan had spent the previous year in charge of the Lightning's business development and strategic planning, Loiselle's knowledge of the CBA was extensive as he literally helped write the document while employed by the NHL. Now, he gets to share his knowledge with Toronto. Khan is listed as an assistant general manager with the Lightning.